[SKETCHFro]

A question was raised after hearing about Avatar winning the Golden Globe over Inglorious Bastards....fun way to start off a thread, but bear with me here...

When it comes to your artworks, despite if its just character, environment, or a combination of the two...is it more important to tell a story with your drawing, or is it more important for the illustration to be attractive with style?

I know that I'll hear "telling a story is what makes the illustration pop/catch people's attention", but I am looking for a bit more incite into other artist thoughts on this.

Looking forward to seeing some results!

[Xlade]

Myself, I wasn't all that impressed with Avatar's story. It's nothing original and exciting. It put me more in the mind of Fern Gully than anything. I would have awarded it something for effects or design or whatnot but not an overall "This is the best EVAR" award. I'd rather see a movie that excelled in more than one area (story, visuals, sound, etc) get that sort of award.

[ekarnopp]

I think narrative is important, but in the end you are painting a picture. The mantra 'A picture is worth a thousand words' I think is very true, but if you have ever tried to write a coherent story in a thousand words you will see that you are limited in the same way.

[pauscorpi]

i second erkanopp

Originally Posted by SKETCHFro

"telling a story is what makes the illustration pop/catch people's attention"

i don't entirely agree with this. As a visual art product , an illustration can catch people's attention in a lot of ways, nice style, intersting colours, strong mood, etc...However, by nature, illustration usually has a specific purpose which includes varying degrees of story telling because it is a means of visualising ideas and if it fails to visualise them properly, it ultimately fails its purpose (e.g a very beautifully executed image does not necesserily make ofr a good novel cover or for a good environment/character descriptor, etc). I'd say that particularly in illustration story is important and what makes an illustration more or less successful is the way in which it manages to convey its stories (or to please the art director :P )

[Qitsune]

I think it depends on your brief. Many pieces of fine art don't convey a story. Some book covers are very abstract and only give hints or a feeling about what it's going to be about. Some other covers actually describe a precise scene in the story. Children books illustrations usually are heavy on the narrative side. So it all depends on your brief and what you are trying to accomplish.

[pegahoul]

Depend on what the purpose and medium is... a caricature doesn't have to be too detailed as long as people understand what's going on.
On 3d movies, there's a race on getting better
and better visually. The more realistic the more wow factor, the more it can attract audience. But that doesn't mean it will be succesful. Final Fantasy The Spirits Within has one of the best CG but it flopped because of few can understand the storyline.
In children book, there are many styles of illustration from the simple lineart and color to to realistic, but they still have to be easy to understand and appealing for children.

I always think it's both. If you can tell a good story with good picture that fits the theme and purpose, why go for less? (except there's budget and skill constraint of course ^^)

[SKETCHFro]

Thanks for all the responses! Man, where do I begin...

Xlade - I haven't watched Avatar yet...so I still need to be "wow-ed" by the whole movie.


pauscorpi & erkanopp - I like both your points you brought up. I have heard that Mantra before millions of times, and while I always want something interesting going on in anything I do ( character poses, illustrations, comics, etc...) sometimes the idea or the 'story' falls flat. (whatever story you can tell from a character pose...which I think its if someone can look at a character and just guess the personality, booya....story) i second erkanopp

The quote I stated before -"telling a story is what makes the illustration pop/catch people's attention" was something I heard in Art school and when first starting off freelance. It sucked hearing it because if enough people say it, you can make someone believe it. Tho I never was a fan...not 100% anyways.

I want to get into full color studies someday but that's another story.

Qitsune - as a freelancer I find your point quite interesting and valid. Its definitely about what your doing. I really like that most of you brought up the whole CHILDREN'S BOOK verses other illustrative media. Those images heavily tell stories and its because you kinda need to be a bit obvious for children at first....though that brings up a interesting question...wait for it.

Because of Children's books, maybe having such a "hold you by the hand" story aspect to their pictures, do you think it makes it harder as visual people, to create stories and illustrations because we are so influenced by those earlier pictures, or do you feel it makes a better impact on our creative sides? Personally I think better...but I wanna hear more!

pegahoul - I like balance too

[Lunatique]

Definitely both. I find technically impressive illustrations that fail to communicate the intended narrative to be partial failures, and vice versa. I think of it as like if you're looking for a romantic partner--do you only care about looks or do you also care about personality? Ideally you'd want both, right?

[davepalumbo]

I think it depends ALOT on the purpose of the piece. Speaking in general about *illustration* though, I feel it's best to have a good emphasis on narrative and composition, working together.

[Volkertron]

I would echo a lot of what has been said here. It can go both ways, personally I have always felt like narrative or story is going to keep people coming back to a painting. However, art for artists tends to be more about technique, you just have to decide who your audience is and what your goals are. Being deliberate is important.

I think that if there is a contemporary argument for the importance of content it's web comics. Usually they aren't particularly well drawn, but if well written can rock socks.